babyblog

Back from Vacation

We're back from a week on the Oregon Coast... very enjoyable! Lovely beaches and glorious coastline. We spent 3 nights at Cannon Beach which is very smart and picturesque.... the weather wasn't brilliant while there but good enough to sit on the beach and dig sandcastles and fly kites (very windy!!). Then we drove down to Newport, stopping on the way at the Tillamook factory for a tour & ice cream (yum!). We stayed one night in this cute little motel on the beach, and the last night in a more touristy 'Best Western' (the motel was booked for the 2nd night).... and explored Newports lighthouse (which Harry loved), bayfront and harbour, and took the kids to the excellent Aquarium there too.

Tabitha was great - very adaptable... the boys were great too and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Dylan loved flying his kite on the beach and Harry loved playing in the sand!

Now only a week left before G goes back to work (sob)!

Tabitha - 1 month old

Where oh where has a whole month gone Tabitha?

My cute little girl you are changing so quickly. You've filled out more in the last week or so - you're no longer in that newborn phase, you are suddenly alot more robust. Probably because you eat so much!

Breastfeeding is going well, you typically eat every 3 or 4 hours except for the evenings when you cluster feed and SCREAM ALOT. Your brothers both did this too..... from around 7 to 11pm every night you're fussy, gassy, inconsolable, want to nurse constantly, and are completely unsatisfied with everything and everyone. I hope this phase passes soon :)

You sleep 3 or 4 hours at a stretch at night still, which is not bad although I'd like a few more hours consecutive sleep sometime in the not too distant future please!

Like Harry you prefer to sleep on your Dad than in your bassinet. I am going to start putting you in it during nap times to get you more used to the idea. Unlike Harry though, you hate a pacifier so there is no way this is an option to settle you more easily.

What else can I tell you about yourself....

You smile nearly every time you come into my arms to feed. You also smile occasionally back at me when I smile at you... these are becoming more frequent and are very lovely indeed.
You have very explosive poo's!
You love having a bath - it seems to calm and relax you and you love being washed and having water poured over your body.
You hate having a dirty or wet nappy..... unlike your brothers who would happily sit in shit all day, the second you are uncomfortable you let us know it!
Every time we go out to eat you decide you need feeding too (inconvenient!)
You will sleep happily in the car but as soon as it stops you wake up - I dread red lights!
You love gazing at lights.... just like Dylan used to. You also love looking at the sun streaming through the trees outside the bedroom window.
You have the most beautiful long fingers and toes.
You're so very much a girl through and through :)

We love you very much indeed little girl, you are adorably cute and gorgeous, and we can't wait to watch you grow :)

xxxxxxx

Harry - 3 yrs old!

Dear Harry

Happy 3rd birthday little man!

You have had the most wonderful year and changed so much ... and right now you are so adorably cute and charming and handsome . You're at an age where everything is wondrous to you, where the silliest things make you laugh, where you are finding explanations and words for everything, where you appreciate everything, even the smallest of things, with gratitude and amazement, and where you are fantastically loving and cuddly towards everyone.

I am really enjoying this time with you, because I know that all too soon you'll be embarassed by silly faces, silly jokes, parents, as you become more worldly.... I hope that it is not too soon!

You're incredibly sociable, and fearless.... you will talk to anyone and tell them "I'm Harry, I'm 2 (now 3!)". You're also a born entertainer and love to dance and show off and make people laugh. You are never really upset by anything either - yesterday you were carrying a balloon and it flew off into the sky and I was worried you'd be devastated, but you didn't cry, just announced that it had 'gone to the moon' and told me about it several times over the course of the day.

You're by far the best sleeper of the 3 of you at this point - you have adjusted brilliantly to your big bed and you go happily to it every night and you never get up and mess about, simply calling out if you need someone to take you to the bathroom or if you've woken up in the morning. Speaking of bathrooms, your potty training is complete and you've done so well with that too, very quickly learning what is required of you.... we still have an issue with your refusing to go for a #2 anywhere other than at home, but you will grow out of that !

You have embraced your new little sister with open arms. You call her 'Tab-Fer' or 'Bebe' and ask about her all the time double checking where she is and what she's doing. You love to help burp her, you kiss and cuddle her 50 times a day, and you haven't shown a single ounce of jealousy or resentment. I'm so proud of you for that, it just shows what a loving sweet nature you have.

You still idolise your big brother and you love playing with him and hanging out with him. Yesterday you came up and told me that I had to shout at Dylan please mummy because Dylan has been naughty. That's the first time you've grassed him up for anything and apparently he'd pushed you off him (probably because you were climbing uninvited on him as usual)...... you were quite insistent that he not get away with it and wouldn't stop complaining until he apologised to you!

Yesterday was your birthday party - your first real party. You were so pleased when you got up and I gave you a birthday badge to wear which you called your 'Madge'. You were excited to go to the party and see your friends and you loved your Lightning McQueen cake and blew out your candles like an expert even though you'd never done it before.

You enjoyed having presents from your friends to open too, and seemed to have a really great time. I enjoyed giving you the chance to have a special day, especially as you'd just become a big brother :)

Today you had more presents and you were thrilled to open lots of fun toys... especially loving your new play tent that we bought for you, and insisting on spending alot of time in it today! We also took you out to eat and told the restaurant it was your birthday and they came over with an ice-cream for you singing happy birthday, and you were absolutely *thrilled* !

All in all you've had a wonderful year and I look forward to the next one, seeing you grow and change. You are the most fantastic little boy and we love you with all our hearts.

Mummy xxx

Tabitha - 3 weeks old

Dear Miss T

Yesterday you were 3 weeks old already. This time is absolutely flying past and it won't be long before you're not a newborn anymore (sob).

This week you've begun to assert yourself a little more - and you have a fierce angry cry when you're not getting what you want (milk) immediately. I don't recall your brothers ever getting hysterical in the way you do. You get so wound up that you can't latch on and feed and furiously head butt me with frustration. The other night I think you screamed for a good 30 mins before we managed to calm you down enough to eat.

You've finally grown out of the 'preemie' outfits that we have, so I am very pleased that you have a little more choice of clothing! Typically though, the weather has gone south, and it's cool and raining, and of course all your little outfits are summer ones!

You've also become alot more alert this week - having wakeful periods of an hour or two. Sometimes you find it hard to settle and we need to get you to be able to do this in your crib and not on your dad's chest at some point, but it'll come and you're still little right now so we'll let you off :)

Another thing you love is your bath. It's lovely to see you enjoying the water.. you lie there really happily and love water being drizzled onto you and having your body cleaned.

The best thing this week though, is that you've given me a few big genuine smiles! It's early for you to be smiling but there have been times I've taken you into my arms and you've looked up at me and given me a genuine and deliberate beautiful smile. So beautiful. Of course this is also a sign that you're very advanced and will be a genius ;-)

I am feeling alot better, you'll be pleased to know if your future self reads this. Despite your birth being not the easiest of the 3 of you, and the immediate recovery being the hardest, I think I am in a much better place 3 weeks on than I was with the boys - especially since the weight has all dropped off already! I still get sore days if I overdo it but I'm very pleased to be back in pre-pregnancy clothing already :)

Anyway - must dash as we have to prepare for your brothers party tomorrow!

Love you little girl

Mummy xxx

Ouch

I think I've overdone it. Yesterday we went to the zoo and the walking was too much. Plus I've been lifting things like laundry and things which are too heavy. My wound area is now really painful and hurts to the touch too.... ouch. I am going to TRY to rest today as much as possible. :(

The kids are doing well..... Dylan is driving us insane by constantly asking for things and never being satisfied with what he has, asking then for more and sulking whenever he is told no! Is also v argumentative. Harry is very happy but full of energy and on the go without stopping which is utterly exhausting, and his latest thing is to repeat things over & over & over again...arghh. Tab is doing fine, but has suddenly become rather feisty, screaming blue murder if she isn't given what she's demanding (usually milk!) immediately!

Fun times :)

Very tired!

One of the things you often hear people say is that when your newborn sleeps, you should sleep. Of course, with 2 young boys to look after, this is just not possible and I haven't managed a single nap during the day yet. So I'm basically existing on 3 - 4 hours at night, up for a half hour to feed, then another 3-4 hours..... which isn't quite enough and I'm starting to feel it!

We went out today and I popped into Gymboree where I spent lots of money on baby girl clothes! They are so cute..... it is alot more fun than buying boy clothes that's for sure!

Later, we went to buy the fish to put into Dylans new aquarium. We came away with 9 fish - 5 x tiny blue neon tetra's, 2 x orange tetra's with black spikey tails called 'swordfish tetras' and 2 orange tetra's with black middles known as 'mickey mouse' tetras. We got home and put them into the aquarium and pretty quickly two of the small blue neons died. Dylan was very upset. We named the two swordfish tetra's 'Steve' and the 2 mickey mouse tetra's 'Sally' and the Sally's were looking a bit dodgy for a while there too but they seem OK now. G popped back to the pet shop to ask why the two blue guys died and it seems we were given bad advice by the salesperson as the manager type he spoke to said that you should never put 9 fish in a tank at once, only 2 or 3 until they get acclimatised. The previous salesperson had said it was fine to put 9 in, sigh, but anyway the others seem to be doing alright. For now! Dylan is pretty pleased with his fish anyway :) He was also very amused when one of the Steve's did a poo and the other Steve ate some of it!

Little Miss Average - 2 weeks

Dear Tabitha

Today you are 2 whole weeks old and I can't quite believe that the time has passed so quickly, or how quickly you have already changed.

Yesterday we took you to the Pediatrician for your first appointment. You were weighed and you have regained those lost ounces and are back to your birth weight of 7lb 8oz. This puts you at the 50th percentile for weight - meaning you are an average sized baby (hence the 'Little Miss Average' title of this post). Who knew that we were capable of producing an average sized baby??? I love it, actually, for once holding this dinky tiny newborn, (who is too small to fit into any of her clothes!), instead of the big bruisers we have had in the past in the shape of your brothers!

In other Pediatrician news, you're also in the 90th percentile for height (how did that happen?) and you have definitely inherited the Jones head which is in the 95th percentile.

In the last couple of days you've started to become much more alert and aware of the people around you. Yesterday we took you out for dinner (for about the 5th time this week - the alternative is your dads cooking) and you sat in your chair looking around you for a good hour, quite content to take it all in.

You are sleeping reasonably well, 4 hour stretches at night. Your favourite place to sleep is on top of your dad's chest, face down. This is fine by him..... and me although I would like you to be able to get to sleep in your crib !

You are completely un-disturbed by the noise level which exists in this house, in particular that of your elder brother Harry who is officially the Noisiest Boy On The Planet. This is a good thing I think, it should mean you won't be waking up to the slightest little noise in the future!

I'm going to pursuade Daddy to take us out later on and buy you some nice clothes to wear because I think you're getting tired of the same old 3 things ... you are female after all. Yesterday he tried to take you out in a little dress with no knickers over your nappy and your bum was hanging out for all the world to see. I had to put my foot down and tell him this was not acceptable for a refined young lady and that if you were able to speak you'd tell him he was out of his mind.

Not that I want you to be able to speak yet. Infact I am painfully aware how quickly time is slipping away and how fast you're growing. Don't grow up too soon little girl!

All my love

Mummy xxxx

Little Girl Swinging

11 days in

So I've finally managed to break the Percocet habit, now that the pain is under control. I'm taking the odd dose of Tylenol if it starts to hurt at the end of the day but otherwise I think the worst of it is over (touch wood).

I have an 'incision check' on Thursday.... hopefully it will be healing and not infected :-/ I tried washing it with some antibacterial cleansing solution yesterday and it seems to have fetched off the steri strips - oops.

This morning on the scales I discovered that I am already back to my pre-pregnancy weight, which only goes to show that I must've been horribly overweight before getting pregnant because I still look like a whale, and my stomach resembles a half deflated beach ball. Still, the weight is literally falling off (25lb in 11 days) so I hope it will continue to do so and that I'll be stick thin very soon!

Tabitha is doing brilliantly, she's eating and sleeping like a champ. Last night she slept for 6 whole blissful hours and I almost felt human this morning! She has marathon feeding sessions in the evening but I can just about cope with those, and if not then G takes her and tries to keep her from screaming to give me a half hour break to replenish the supplies!

Harry is extremely cute with his sister. Every time she is fed he likes to help burp her. Being a bit over zealous with his smacks to the back you have to keep a close eye on him to say the least, but he loves to help. When she needs a bum change he's there handing out nappies and wipes. And if she's awake he wants to cuddle her all the time.

Dylan is also besotted with his sister. He offers to hold her all of the time. Yesterday after cub camp he got home and rushed in to show her off to his friend, and then showed him how to hold her. He and his brother are also obsessed with my breastfeeding and keep talking about it, and asking questions about it. Yesterday Dylan came into my bedroom and found me using the breast pump (trying to build up some supply for the fridge) and said 'That looks very worrying' in a very concerned voice. Too funny. They're so cute, my children :o)

Recovery

Warning - details in this post might be a bit grim / gruesome.

This c-section recovery has been far far far more difficult than my recovery with either of the boys.

Firstly, I think that the problems started when I was given the Spinal anaesthetic. I don't think that I was given as much / enough. It took a very long time for me to feel numb , compared to very quickly both times previously. I could also feel alot - I felt the catheter go in for example, and I felt every touch. It didn't hurt but I felt it - I didn't feel it last time. Also the spinal wore off *extremely * quickly, within 3-4 hours. The pain as a result of that was excrutiating and has taken a very long time to get on top of, and when you're in pain it's no fun. It's finally beginning to subside but it's over a week and I expected to be alot more mobile than I am, by now.

Secondly, they messed up my staples. They didn't put them in very well. When I had them removed on Monday they commented on the fact that the wound isn't healed properly. They've now covered it in steri-strips but it's very hard to keep it air dry given the excess skin and whatnot and I'm concerned about infection. Another thing is that the wound seems alot bigger than my previous c-sections.

Third....the catheter that they put in irritated my bladder. I had 3 days of horrible pain and cramp and spasm and burning and had to be checked for infection. There is none, it's just irritated but omg it hurt. I had to take some OTC medication to calm it down.

Fourth - the most horrible to date - constipation thanks to all the painkillers.. and not really touched by the stool softners that they gave me.... led to an extremely long, unpleasant, painful visit to the loo the other day (I'll spare you the worst details). The outcome was the most hideous and painful and horrific and disgusting and gross thing I have ever known - PILES. OMG they are horrible and I can't sit down for the pain.

Combine all of the above and I'm a sorry state really. I want to be better! We went out to some shop yesterday and I got as far as a few feet inside the door and had to sit, discomfort from all these nasty ailments preventing me walking comfortably. I want to get better already!!!!

Meanwhile Tabitha is just delightful :) And if I may boast, the best sleeping / feeding baby you could ever hope for! She has herself on a 4 hour schedule which is just *brilliant* for a breastfed tiny newborn.. getting 4 hour sleep stints at night makes the world of difference to exhaustion, you just don't feel it so much if you can get that long spell. Yay Tabitha, long may it continue!

Ten things about Tabitha

1. She is amazingly feminine compared to her brothers as babies. Her little mannerisms and looks are all very 'girly' and very compelling to watch.

2. She has lovely long dainty fingers.

3. Her toes are extraordinarily long too, and her 2nd toes on both feet bend slightly the wrong way.

4. She is impossible to 'burp' and is extremely windy all the time.

5. She 'spits up' as they say in America - I call it 'being sick' - several times after each feed. Tiny amounts but goes through alot of clothes and blankets as a result.

6. She sleeps remarkably well for a tiny baby. 3-4 hours at a time between feeds. We're actually getting alot of rest at night - really only dealing with 1 feed at around 4am and then sleeping till 8am.

7. She loves to sleep face down on her Daddy's chest. Sometimes one of her 4 hourly stints at night will be spent there... he doesn't mind either, he likes it :)

8. She's just starting, at 5 days old, to open her eyes more and focus and take in what's going on around her.

9. She had a massage with lotion last night after her bath and she was utterly blissed out by it. Looks like this will become a regular event.

10. She has girl parts which are very scary to deal with when changing nappies! I changed my first one today and managed to walk away unscathed but it was very different!

Tab-Fuh's Birth Story

Tab-fuh, so named by her big brother Harry, is an absolute princess, I love her to bits!! Forget any of those silly worries I had, she's absolutely and utterly gorgeous and sweet and lovely and everything and more than I could ever have imagined she would be :o)

Now that I'm done gushing, I'll try to write up her birth story... it was overall not my best birth experience, it was quite stressful and upsetting at times, and I'm so glad that we're home now!

Thursday morning - after the predictable very little sleep due to nerves - G and I set out for the hospital at 6.40am. The boys were both up (and their Grandad) to wave us off. We arrived at 7am in style in G's truck and carried all of our bags - looking as if we were moving in permanently - into the Maternity reception area where we had to fill out some forms and then wait for our nurse to collect us.

Having been collected around 7.20am we were taken to our room. The hospital gives you a room when you check in which is then yours for the duration, should you be in labour your baby is born in the room, for a c-seciton you are prepped there and then returned, and it's the room in which you recover and then sleep. The room was very nice - G had a day bed to himself, there was a TV / DVD / VCR/ Stereo system, bathroom obviously, and pretty much about as un-hospitalish as a hospital room can be.

The nurse got me into a gown and then started my IV. It wasn't too bad. I was, although pretty nervous, feeling OK. They checked my blood work to make sure the Heparin wasn't compromising my ability to clot and they gave me antibiotics to prevent infection in the wound. The OB came in to say Hi and the hour and a half pretty much flew by.

At 9am they told us that it was time and they had us walk to the OR - me dragging my IV pole with me. They held Gareth back to go and put on his scrubs and told me to go into the OR on my left. As I approached the entrance I stopped and was confronted by a small ish room absolutely full of stuff and people. It's really hard to describe but it seemed completely manic and busy, equipment crammed in every square inch, and completely scary and disorganised. I think this is the point I started to cry, I felt very frightened and overwhelmed.

Compare this to being taken into a calm white sterile environment with my last birth experience.... this was just all so crazy and manic. Also last time there was at least one person there to talk to me, keep me calm, reassure me, tell me what was happening.... and this time there was not. It was as though I was incidental to the proceedings. They escorted me (sobbing) to the bed and had me sit on it while the mayhem around me continued. I felt really overwhelmed and alone. Gareth finally came in and sat infront of me and held me and I was still crying uncontrollably - it was so emotional and scary all at the same time, really hard to explain.

They then put the spinal tap in. I was scared of this (esp. it being done in a sitting position which the other two were not) but it actually didn't really hurt and wasn't too bad, and then they had me lie down while it took effect. There had been until this point talk around the room about bumping us for an emergency but I guess they decided not to (thankfully!). Gareth came to sit around on my left side and we waited for the spinal to take full effect. The room around us continued to be mayhem. Nobody really had much to say to me still. I continued to cry. G held me and reassured me. The spinal seemed to take *forever* to numb me. I don't know why - the other two had been really quick but this just seemed to take an extremely long time.

Finally the anaesthetist put the curtain up and I guess they started - nobody actually told me that they were starting! I was feeling them pull my tummy around for quite a while and then felt the hard tugging that was so familiar and someone said 'get ready, here she comes' and all of a sudden a whoosh feeling and this glorious scream filled the air.

Of course more tears - this time tears of intense joy!! - commenced from both of us..... and our beautiful daughter was shown to us then taken over to the warmer to get checked over.

They told us she was 7lb 8oz, I could not believe that we'd finally had a baby who didn't come out a heavy weight! G stood with them while they did all the checks and she scored a 9/9 on her APGAR (very good!), and they suctioned lots of goop from her mouth that she kept spitting up. Then they wrapped her up snuggly and warm and gave her to G who brought her over to me :o)

She stayed with us while they finished sewing me up, which took a good while. I asked G what her name was, we'd had this short list of 3 or 4 all along, and he said 'I think she's Tabitha' and I was very happy as that's the one I'd favoured and I'd worried he wouldn't go for!

While they sewed me up, I remember hearing 'irrigation please' and 'there's a small piece of placenta still attached' which didn't do wonders for my nerves. When they were finally done the DR dropped the curtain thing down and stood infront of me covered in blood and started talking to me about something....and all I could think was stop that, stop talking to me letting me see my blood everywhere!

They then took us back to our room where G presented me with a diamond ring from Tiffany :o). Also got loads of balloons and flowers! All was well until Tabitha started to make these by now familiar grunting noises. Familiar because both boys did it too. Dylan had been left with us while doing them but Harry had been taken to the NICU and I began to be concerned that they'd take her too. The nurse came in and gave her a bath, saying that as babies generally hate it they scream which will help shift the fluid from her lungs that is causing her to struggle and make that grunting noise. She did scream, bless her, but the noise didn't get any better and infact began to get worse, and she sounded like she was really struggling.... my poor little baby girl.

They called a nurse from the NICU to come down and check her and they put a Pulse/Ox thing on her and determined that it was too low -- it's meant to be in the 90's and hers was in the 80's. They gave her some oxygen which helped and decided that she needed to go upstairs to the NICU to be more closely monitored :o( It's an horrific thing when this happens, you want so badly to be with your baby but at the same time you want them to be well..... just awful to have her and then have her taken away though.

They took her away and G went with her. Dad Sally Steve & the boys arrived just as they were leaving so they got a quick glimpse of her and then came into me. It's a bit blurry because of all the pain relief medication they had me on but I think G got her established up there, then came back and took some of them up to see her. Sally and Steve ended up taking Harry off for the day and Dylan wanted to stay and look after me (bless) so he and my dad stuck around meaning G could stay with Tabitha.

He came and reported progress regularly, her pulse/ox had dropped into the 70's and her blood sugar had dropped so they'd started her on more oxygen and put an IV in - her poor little veins and been prodded and poked non stop since she was born but she was beginning to improve. I was glad to have Dad and Dylan with me keeping me company. I had started to feel pretty crap myself.. the spinal wore off extremely quickly (within 3 or 4 hours) and the IV pain relief just wasn't helping, the whole incision area HURT. ALOT. Also the after-pains as my uterus contracted were horrendous. Combine pain with emotional turmoil following any birth combining also with the worry because your baby is not with you..... I was terrified I'd not bond with her ..... I was pretty wrecked.

The nurses continued to pump pain relief into me but it wasn't working ... plus I had to ask for it rather than it being given automatically which meant I wasn't getting it regularly ......then finally the shift change happened and I got a new nurse who decided that my pain level was completely unacceptable and that she would do something about it. She switched me from the IV to Percocet tablets and got me some Dilaudid to give me every hour or so in between. She came in religiously on the hour to give me the medication and finally I began to feel that we'd begun to get on top of the pain. By 9pm I was able to get into a wheelchair and go and visit my little girl!

G and the nurse wheeled me up to the NICU and there was my beautiful little baby girl all taped up to wires and IV's and all sorts.... poor lamb.

They let me hold her and feed her, and thankfully she latched on and started feeding like a champ. What a blissful sensation of having her there where she should be, everything finally felt 'right'!

We arranged that I would go back at 12 to nurse, that G would go up at 3 with some expressed milk, and that I would go back at 6am. We told them to call us if she needed us for feeds before that. All went according to plan until G went up around 3am and found that they'd given her sodding formula and a pacifier. I was furious - no hospital should ever do that esp after we'd given them instructions not to! My nurse went and read the twatty NICU nurse the riot act thankfully and when I went back up at 6am they allowed me to take Tabitha back downstairs with me at last - hurrah!

It was so good to have her back with us.... and she was able to finally meet her family for the first time.

Most of Friday we spent resting and sleeping on and off between visits from the nurse. Taibtha continued to nurse very well and spent alot of time sleeping on her daddy's chest.

I had some continued discomfort - this time due to trapped wind (lovely) which is common after surgery where they rearrange your intestines and gas gets trapped and can't get out. The only 'cure' for this is to move around so it's a
struggle between moving in pain or lying down in pain .... I moved as much as I could anyway, and suffered as it didn't want to shift until Saturday!

On Saturday we were discharged. We spent the day at the hospital and left around 6pm, having mostly rested again. The difference of a 3rd baby - you know when to take the opportunity to rest and get as much sleep as possible - we ended up coming back feeling really refreshed!

Sunday - spent the day at home chilling out.... had a couple of visitors..... pretty good.

Monday (today) I had to go and get my staples taken out and get Tabby checked over at the hospital. She's doing great, she's down to 6lb 14 oz but it's within acceptable limits of weight loss. My incision is not great as apparently it's coming apart in places????? But they've put a ton of steri-strips on so hopefully my insides wont' fall out of the wound (!)

It also helps that Tabitha is so far (touch wood) a really really good baby. She feeds and sleeps for 3-4 hours in between and is not fussy or screamy. She has a good pair of lungs on her when she wants to (usually if having her bum changed or clothes changed) but she's pretty content and sweet natured. It's lovely to have her home. Her brothers are pretty cool with her. Harry keeps saying 'you got a baby?' when he sees us with her, but he's very cuddly and kissy with her and seems to accept her presence in the house. Dylan is a little nervous of her in the sense that he wonders how he should feel......but very interested and has spent quite some time holding her and cuddling her and 'bonding' with her (in his words).

No doubt I've written far too much and also missed out a ton of important stuff.... but ones head doesn't work too well when taking large amounts of Percocet :) All in all, the birth itself was a bit overwhelming but the end result is obviously well worth it!

Home

Yay.... home. I will do a proper update tomorrow, I promise, it's just a little hard to focus when taking loads of painkillers! Meanwhile here's a photo of me with my little cutie - this is the first time I got to properly hold her after her NICU visit.